


How to Meet a Sailor

by reversustenebris



Category: A New Brain - Finn/Lapine
Genre: Fluff and Humor, M/M, based off of a hc i have and also many a gc convo, but this fandom needs more content and so i just decided to do it myself, i dont..... know what im doing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-06-01 16:52:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15147605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reversustenebris/pseuds/reversustenebris
Summary: Gordon finds a mission in life after getting his hands on "How to Meet a Sailor" (also I suck at summaries).Alternate Title: How Gordon Met Roger





	1. How to Find a Mission In Life

Gordon shoved his way into the diner, briefly running into the door before remembering it’s pull, not push. Truly a cherry on top to his awful day.

First, he woke up late. That’s not an unusual thing for him, though, due to how hard he crashes after staying up late for work. What truly sucked about waking up late today is that Mr. Bungee finally noticed he never comes in on time, and he got yelled at for the better part of an hour. 

Next, he got didn’t get any breakfast. Or coffee. Or Red Bull. Or anything he uses to keep himself from collapsing at his piano. A consequence of waking up late, he figures. That doesn’t stop him from complaining about it, though.

Then, after that, when he was finally a block away from the diner, he realized he forgot a book for Rhoda.

Oh, the book tradition. Truly something stupid, yet Gordon continues to participate. Rhoda too. After they both realized their love for reading, they decided to bring each other whatever kind of book they wanted when they met for lunch each week. Sometimes they’re nice books, things picked off of displays in the tiny bookstore near work, or they’re a favorite of one of the two that they wanted to share. 

However, sometimes, they are completely awful pieces of “literature”. Trashy paperbacks pulled from bargain bins or books missing covers found in boxes in the back of the closet. These kinds of books are usually given for a couple of reasons: they are so awful they are practically unreadable, they are so awful they are hilarious, or they are a romance novel that sounds like it was written by a fifth grader. 

Considering he was late, it was a trashy book kind of week.

\----

As soon as he sits down, Rhoda gives him a look.

“You’re late,” She says.

“No shit,” Gordon says, immediately flipping up the menu to block Rhoda’s view of his face. As if he doesn’t eat here every week.

“Here’s your book,” Rhoda says, sliding a book with a ratty blue cover across the table, “Hope you enjoy.”

Gordon flips his menu down. Rhoda’s smile makes it seem like he’s probably not going to enjoy it. He hands her book over, some Scottish romance novel he grabbed in five seconds, before snatching up what she handed it to him.

_How to Meet a Sailor_. It’s so ridiculous he has to laugh out loud.

“Holy shit, Rhoda,” He says between snorts, “Where the hell did you find this?”

Rhoda’s glare finally disappears and she breaks out into a smile too. “Goodwill.”

“What am I even supposed to do with this?”

“Find yourself a sailor, obviously.”

\----

Gordon was determined to find himself a sailor. He knows that the book Rhoda gave him was just a joke like all of the others, but he decided to overlook that. Everyone needs a mission in life, right?

This was turning out to be a pretty hard mission, though. Gordon kinda just wants to go home.

After reading through the whole book twice, Gordon realized it didn’t give him a lot of help. He decided to just take some initiative and start out at the pier. 

But it was so hot. And humid. And a seagull keeps trying to tear pages out of his notebook as he sits and stares at the water and tries to look busy. He’s been sitting here for hours now, watching boats come in and go out, and all he’s gotten is sweaty and annoyed. 

Despite that, he comes back the next day. And the day after that.

“The sea gives me inspiration,” he tells Rhoda when she asks, “It gets me thinking.”

“I didn’t know you were capable of that,” Rhoda responds before dropping the question.

\----

Finally, after a week of coming to loiter at the pier, something exciting happens. 

Gordon sees a hot guy.

Now, Gordon has seen plenty of hot guys in his life. But this one was special, and he caught Gordon’s eye because he hadn’t seen him here all week. He was new, something else to look at instead of all the vaguely creepy, old, white dudes that spend all their time on the water. 

Gordon had a new mission. He wasn’t going to meet just any sailor. He was going to meet this sailor. And then date him. Hopefully. As long as he isn’t a jackass.


	2. How to Fall

Okay. So Roger isn’t going crazy, which is good. However, his situation might be getting worse.

So, he saw a cute guy when he showed up to sail last week. Great! Something a little different from the old guys who only call him “son” because they definitely forgot his name years ago. Roger obviously couldn’t get the nerve to talk to him, though, so he just sailed away that day pretending he never saw him, and he was gone by the time he got back.

Except the guy’s been there every day since then. Roger’s been trying everything, showing up way earlier than usual to leave before the guy gets there, or covering his face with stacks of things he doesn’t even need to bring with him.

But now the guy’s seen him, and has been maintaining eye contact with him for about ten seconds now.

Roger looks away and stares at the sky as he starts his way to his boat by memory.

\----

 _Oh I fucked up now,_ Gordon thinks as he buries his face in his hands.

He totally scared this dude away forever, and now he’s gonna fail his mission to find a sailor, because he’s definitely not going within five feet of the rest of the guys at this pier. He’s going to be alone for the rest of his life and-

Gordon’s snapped out of his spiralling thoughts by a loud noise, and he sees that the guy tripped on the way to his boat and dropped everything piled in his arms. And, because it’s a slow time of day, Gordon is the only other person around to see it.

Well, that’s just fantastic, because now he’s obligated to help.

He slips his notebook into his bag and slings it over his shoulder without bothering to zip it shut as he stands up, and he makes his way over to the sailor.

“Are you okay?” Gordon asks, extending a hand and helping the guy up.

_Wow. He’s tall. And pretty. And he hasn’t let go of my hand yet._

\----

_Wow. He’s adorable. His eyes are so beautiful._

_Oh._

_I haven’t let go of his hand, have I?_

\----

Gordon swears they stood there staring with their hands still clasped together for an hour. 

Sure, it was only around ten seconds, but he was a little too caught up to tell. He takes his hand back and starts picking up the guy’s stuff. Lots of books. He thinks of Rhoda and how this is all her fault.

“I’m Roger,” The guy says, still staring at Gordon.

“I’m Gordon,” Gordon replies, “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Roger’s hands look pretty scraped up, and Gordon just wants to grab them and help Roger somehow, but he doesn’t. That would be weird, right?

“Just fine,” Roger says, and he leans down to help Gordon pick up everything. They get everything put together, and Gordon hands everything he has over to Roger before looking up at the sky and out over the water and anywhere but Roger’s face.

Gordon gives him a curt wave before turning and walking away. He gets about five feet away before turning back around, but Roger is already making his way to his boat.

_Fuck,_ Gordon thinks, _I should have asked for his number._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, thanks for reading! i'm glad to get to make content for this itty bitty fandom :)
> 
> sorry for the short chapter, but i should update again tomorrow!


	3. How to Mess Up a Date

It turns out Gordon didn’t have to ask anyways. After he got home and stared at the ceiling in agony for a while, he went to flip through his notebook to see what he’s written this past week.

Pretty much nothing. But written in fancy handwriting underneath the song he had started was a phone number. Considering how picky Gordon is about people touching his notebook, the number definitely belonged to Roger. He must have snuck it in there while Gordon was zoning out. After all, he never bothered to zip up his bag before he rushed over to help him up.

Cool. Super cool. What was he supposed to do with this? There’s no way he could just call Roger. He would definitely fuck it up somehow.

No. He’s gotta do this. It’s part of his mission, right? Sure, he’s already met a sailor like he originally planned on, but now he could date a sailor! That’s way better.

So he calls, and stutters his way through a conversation, and now Roger is coming over on Saturday.

\----

“Why the hell did I decide to do this here?” Gordon rants out loud as he cleans up his kitchen, “Now I have to make dinner,” Gordon pauses and stares into space for a second before following up with, “Fuck. I can’t cook.”

Well, he tries at least, and by the time his doorbell rings, the food is in the oven and he thinks it’s gonna turn out just fine.

\----

It doesn’t turn out fine.

He definitely gets too caught up talking to Roger, and doesn’t hear or at least pretends not to hear the oven timer, and by the time he remembers, the food is so charred it’s impossible to tell what it used to be.

Gordon is sure he fucked up this whole thing, but when he turns away from the smoking oven, he sees that Roger is doubled over and laughing so hard that tears are forming at the corners of his eyes. Gordon starts laughing too, and they only stop when the smoke detector goes off.

\----

So. Now they’re at McDonald's. 

There’s this sketchy, always dirty, always full of rabid children screeching as they run around the restaurant McDonald's about five minutes from Gordon’s place. After Roger helps Gordon take the batteries out of the smoke detector, he grabs his hand and they walk to McDonald's, because it’s the closest thing they’ve got.

They’re sitting at a tiny booth in the corner, sharing a thing of McNuggets as they continue their conversation from before the whole smoke incident. 

Gordon kinda hates McDonald's, but he already likes Roger so much he’s willing to put up with it for him.

They stay there until Roger notices that the restaurant is completely empty except for some angry looking employees behind the counter who have been glaring at them for about fifteen minutes.

They kiss as soon as they step out the doors, because nothing is more romantic than a grubby McDonald's, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're gettin there lads

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! kudos and comments are always appreciated! also i promise this will update i won't abandon this,,,,


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